Sains Malaysiana 54(3)(2025): 663-675

http://doi.org/10.17576/jsm-2025-5403-05

Ages of Detrital Zircons from Deep-Water Gas Field L3 in the Northern South China Sea and Their Significance for Provenance Evolution

(Usia Zirkon Gersik daripada Medan Gas Air-Dalam L3 di Utara Laut China Selatan dan Kepentingan Mereka untuk Evolusi Tempasal)

ZHENGHUA LIU¹, GOH THIAN LAI^2,*, ABDUL G.M. RAFEK³, AILIE S. SERASA² & LEE KHAI ERN⁴

¹Shanghai Natural History Museum (Branch of Shanghai Science & Technology Museum), Shanghai 200041, China
²Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
³Engineering Geology Advisory, 11, SS21/12, Damansara Utama, 47400 Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia
⁴Institute for Environment and Development (LESTARI), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia

Received: 20 August 2024/Accepted: 26 November 2024

Abstract

L3 is the first deepwater exploration well drilled in the Pearl River Mouth Basin, Northern South China Sea and significant hydrocarbon discoveries have been discovered in the Zhuhai and Zhujiang Formations, which have kicked off the prelude to oil and gas exploration in the deepwater areas of the northern slope of the South China Sea (SCS). However, for a long time, there has been great controversy over the cause, sedimentation on processes and control factors of high-quality reservoirs in L3 gas field. This paper analyzed the sedimentary characteristics of the high-quality sand bodies of Zhuhai Formation and Zhujiang Formation, combined with a comprehensive analysis of detrital zircon U-Pb age spectra patterns of sediments and conducted a source-to-sink comparative analysis based on the detrital zircon U-Pb age spectrum in the surrounding potential source areas. The results show that the shallow sea delta developed since the late Oligocene in L3 gas field, and the age spectrum of sedimentary zircon showed the characteristics of multi-peaking, which was the signal superposition of western paleo ‘Kontum-Ying-Qiong’ River and northern paleo Pearl River. Jinningian zircon spectrum peak shows an increasing trend as the sand body was gradually deposited, which indicated that the supply of paleo Pearl River in the north was gradually increasing. After the Baiyun movement at the end of the Oligocene, with the deepening of the water body, the dominant sand body of L3 in the Zhujiang Formation showed significant deep-water sedimentary characteristics of the continental slope,  and the detrital zircon U-Pb age spectrum showed a significant northern paleo Pearl River source signal, indicating that the western source area had gradually weakened during the early Miocene, and the northern paleo Pearl River source mainly provided debris supply for the Baiyun sag.

Keywords: Detrital zircon U-Pb; provenance; sedimentary characteristic; source to sink; South China Sea

Abstrak

L3 ialah telaga penjelajahan air dalam pertama yang digerudi di Lembangan Mulut Sungai Pearl, Laut China Selatan Utara dan penemuan hidrokarbon ketara telah ditemui di Formasi Zhuhai dan Zhujiang, yang mana ia telah memulakan penjelajahan minyak dan gas di kawasan perairan dalam di cerun utara Laut China Selatan (SCS). Walau bagaimanapun, sejak sekian lama, terdapat kontroversi besar berkenaan dengan  punca, proses pengendapan dan faktor kawalan takungan berkualiti tinggi dalam medan gas L3. Kertas ini menganalisis ciri endapan bagi jasad pasir berkualiti tinggi untuk Formasi Zhuhai dan Zhujiang, digabungkan dengan analisis komprehensif corak spektrum umur zirkon U-Pb gersik sedimen dan menjalankan analisis perbandingan punca-ke-tenggelam berdasarkan zirkon gersik U-Pb spektrum usia di sekitar kawasan punca yang berpotensi. Hasil  menunjukkan bahawa delta laut cetek berkembang sejak akhir Oligosen di medan gas L3 dan spektrum usia zirkon sedimen menunjukkan ciri-ciri puncak-berbilang, yang merupakan isyarat superposisi paleo barat Sungai ‘Kontum-Ying-Qiong’ dan Sungai Pearl utara paleo. Puncak spektrum zirkon Jinningian menunjukkan corak yang semakin meningkat apabila jasad pasir dimendapkan secara beransur-ansur dan ia juga menunjukkan bahawa bekalan Sungai Pearl paleo di utara semakin meningkat. Selepas pergerakan Baiyun pada akhir Oligosen, dengan jasad air yang semakin dalam, jasad pasir dominan L3 dalam Formasi Zhujiang menunjukkan ciri-ciri sedimen air dalam yang ketara di cerun benua dan spektrum usia zirkon U-Pb gersik menunjukkan isyarat punca Sungai Pearl paleo utara yang ketara, ini menunjukkan bahawa kawasan barat punca beransur menjadi lemah semasa awal Miosen dan punca Sungai Pearl paleo utara memperuntukan bekalan serpihan untuk sag Baiyun.

Kata kunci: Ciri-ciri sedimen; Laut China Selatan; punca-ke-tenggelam; tempasal; zirkon U-Pb gersik

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*Corresponding author; email: gdsbgoh@gmail.com